PM briefs foreign ambassadors on possible Gaza ground operation to ‘reassert Israeli deterrence’
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton calls on both sides ‘to refrain from exacerbating the situation,’ hails Egyptian mediation efforts
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday started taking steps to shore up international support for a possible military ground operation into Gaza that would aim to quell the ongoing rocket fire from the strip.
“If an alarm is sounded, people in southern Israel — one million people — have 15 seconds to find shelter. I don’t know if any of your governments will accept this reality. I cannot accept this,” he told some 50 ambassadors in Ashkelon. “The world needs to understand that Israel has the right and duty to defend its citizens. We will act to stop the rocket fire.”
The rocket fire continued for a third day Monday, albeit initially at a slower pace; as of early Monday afternoon, some 150 rockets and mortar shells had hit Israel since Saturday. Twenty-six people were treated for shock after a direct hit on a home in Netivot on Monday morning.
“Netanyahu wants to make sure that the international community will understand the reasons if Israel is forced to act,” a government official said Monday ahead of the prime minister’s meeting with the senior diplomats.
The government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, neither denied nor confirmed reports that Israel was planning a ground invasion into Gaza. “Different options are being looked at,” he told The Times of Israel. “It’s more than possible that there will be a need to reassert Israeli deterrence,” the official said.
Netanyahu plans to tell the ambassadors that “no country in the world would tolerate the current situation, in which dozens of rockets and missiles are continuously being fired at our civilian population,” the official added.
Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Sunday that an extensive ground operation for Gaza was being planned.
Meanwhile, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she condemned the firing of rockets and mortars into Israel and called on both sides “to refrain from exacerbating the situation.”
“Further regrettable loss of life and injury must be avoided. I support the mediation efforts by Egypt and reiterate that there is no place for violence in the Middle East. It is only through resumed negotiations that the legitimate aspirations of both Palestinians and Israelis will be met, through a two-state solution,” Ashton said in a statement.
During Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said Israel was prepared to “intensify” its response to the ongoing rocket fire. “The IDF is operating, and will operate, aggressively against the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, which are taking heavy blows from the IDF. The world needs to understand that Israel will not sit idly by in the face of attempts to attack us. We are prepared to intensify the response
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Israel would not hesitate to reenter Gaza: “If we are forced to go back into Gaza in order to deal Hamas a [serious] blow and restore security for all of Israel’s citizens, then we will not hesitate to do so.”
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